Coscia named Amtrak Board chairman

Anthony Coscia, former chair of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, has been elected chair of the board of directors of Amtrak, succeeding Thomas C. Carper, Amtrak said Monday.

Coscia, who has been a member of the bord since June 2010, serves on the board of Sun Bancorp, and also is partner of Windels, Marx, Lane & Mittendorf, New Brunswick, N.J.

He has served as chair of the audit and finance committee for Amtrak, and has strongly supported investments in the national rail network, particularly in the Northeast Corridor. Such support has included emphasis on Amtrak's proposed Gateway Tunnel project, designed to increase NEC capacity under the Hudson River.

"It is an honor to serve as Amtrak's next chairman and I thank the Obama administration and many members from both houses of Congress whose support for Amtrak has been invaluable," Coscia said in a statement. "As chairman, I am committed to increasing ridership, strengthening Amtrak's operational performance and improving its financial position."

In a statement, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said, "There is no better person to lead the Amtrak Board of Directors right now."

Lautenberg, chairman of the Senate Commerce Surface Transportation Subcommittee, which oversees Amtrak, said, “Tony is a proven business leader who will work to increase Amtrak's record-setting ridership levels, further strengthen Amtrak's business plan, and move America's passenger rail service into the 21st century."